A weekly report prepared by the staff of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA). If you require further information, regarding this report, call the Elora Resource Centre at 519-846-0941. Office hours: 8:30am to 4:30pm. For technical information, call the Agricultural Information Contact Centre at 1-877-424-1300 or visit the OMAFRA website: www.ontario.ca/omafra
Health and safety training
The occupational health and safety awareness training provides a basic understanding of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA), and does not replace any sector specific, hazard specific, or competency specific training.
A new regulation will require health and safety awareness training for every worker and supervisor under Ontario’s OHSA. The regulation came into force July 1
H.R. Macmillan laureate in agriculture award program
Nominations for the 2014 H.R. MacMillan laureate in agriculture are to be submitted by Aug. 29. This award of $10,000 is made available by the University of Guelph every five years to the Canadian who is judged to have made the most significant contribution to agriculture in Canada during the preceding five years.
The award was established by the late H.R. MacMillan of Vancouver, BC, a 1906 graduate of the Ontario Agricultural College (OAC).
Nominations are assessed by a national panel of judges selected by the University of Guelph. Award recipients are presented with a medal designed by Erich Barth.
Candidates must be Canadian citizens or landed immigrants who have been engaged in agriculture in Canada during the period 2009-2014. The range of activities and contributions to agriculture may include food production, research and development, government service or other achievements related to agriculture. If two or more persons have shared in an achievement the award will be given jointly. Institutions, corporations, persons elected by popular vote to federal, provincial or municipal governments and faculty and staff of the University of Guelph are not eligible for the award.
Nominees for the H.R. MacMillan laureate in agriculture must be proposed and recommended to the selection committee by two or more persons who will be required either to jointly sign the principal letter of recommendation, or to provide and sign separate letters. Candidates cannot make a personal application for the award.
Sow-thistle
There are several sow-thistles and a few plants that are somewhat similar. When injured they exude a sticky white juice. The flowers are yellow and similar to a dandelion but much taller.
Sow-thistle is a perennial, reproducing by seed and from an extensive underground root system. If you pull it out of the ground you will have a four to six-inch root that has broken off with sticky white juice in the wound. If it is in bud or flower, it will have sticky hair structures on the stem near the flowers. The leaf shape varies; often reminding you of a dandelion but each lobe usually ends in a weak prickle.
Annual sow-thistle is an annual with a tapering taproot and reproducing only by seed. The leaf has deep lobes and ends in a triangular lobe. Upper leaves clasp the stem with two pointed lobes.
Spiny annual sow-thistle is very similar to annual but differing in leaf shape, with the margins having moderately spiny teeth. The most distinguishing characteristic is the prominent round lobe on each side of the stem where the leaf is attached. When viewed from the side it may remind you of an ear.
It is easy to confuse prickly lettuce with the sow-thistles but it is a biennial reproducing by seed. Its most distinguishing characteristics are leaves that are twisted so they are oriented vertically and often pointing north and south with small but robust spines on the mid rib. The yellow flowers are small and very numerous.
Sow-thistles in the past were a serious problem. With the advent of larger tractors and improved tillage techniques, this weed was in remission. Lately with the changes to no-till and less use of herbicides, these yellow flowers are again gaining in numbers. So don’t forget Annual and Perennial Sow-thistle are noxious weeds that need to be destroyed because of their invasive and competitive characteristics.
Coming events
– Aug. 8 to 10: Drayton Fair. For more info contact: 519-638-5093 or website at: www.draytonfair.com;
– Aug. 15: Canadian National Exhibition. For more information contact: 416-263-3835 or website at: www.theex.com;
– Aug. 21 to 22: West Central Junior Dairy Show (for those aged 9 to 13) at the Grand River Raceway, Elora;
– Aug. 23: 4-H Dairy Show – 12:30 pm at the Grand River Raceway, Elora.
– Aug. 23: Truck and Tractor Pull, 5:30pm at the Grand River Raceway, Elora. For more information contact: Derek Bruder 519-501-1387.
– Aug. 24: Raindate, Truck and Tractor Pull, 11am at the Grand River Raceway, Elora;
– Aug. 22 to 24: Palmerston Fair. For more information contact: 519-343-3427 or website at: www.palmerstonfair.com;
– Aug. 30: Mount Forest Fair. For more information contact: 519-323-2272 or website at: www.ontariofairs.org/fairs/.
